Contents

The Gulf of Sirte has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries, it gives its name to the city of Sirte situated on its western side.

The gulf measures 439 kilometres (273 mi) from the promontory of Boreum (now Ras Teyonas) on the East side to the promontory of Cephalae (Ras Kasr Hamet) on the West. The greatest extension of the gulf inland is 177 kilometres (110 mi) land inward[3] and occupies an area of 57,000 square kilometers.[4]

Syrtis is referred to in the New Testament of the Bible[5] where the Apostle Paul relates being sent in chains to Rome to stand trial before Caesar Nero. The crew of his ship was worried about being driven by a storm into Syrtis,[6] and took precautions to prevent it, resulting, eventually, in being shipwrecked on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.

In ancient literature, the Syrtes (the Greater, or maiores, in the eastern and the Lesser, or minores, in the western part of the Gulf) were notorious sandbanks which sailors always took pains to avoid, the local climate features frequent calms and a more than usually powerful north wind. The shoreline between Cyrene in the east and Carthage in the west featured few ports.

Ancient writers frequently mention the sandbanks and their vicinity as dangerous for shipping, the Syrtes maiores are unusually tidal and feature a strong (3 knots) clockwise current, at the rising tide, which then switches when the tide ebbs. This feature may explain the curious corkscrew shape in the area on the Peutinger Table, the landward side was a featureless plain which contrasted with the fertility of the rest of Tripolitania, to the west.

Ancient writers mention sandstorms and serpents in this area. Strabo describes a march by the Roman general, Cato the Younger in 47 BC which took thirty days ‘ through deep and scorching sand’. Strabo also gives a full account of the dangers for shipping: the difficulty with both the Greater and the Lesser Syrtes is that in many places the water is shallow, and at the rise and fall of the tides ships sometimes fall into the shallows and settle there, and it is rare for them to be saved (17.3.20). Pomponius Mela gives a very melodramatic description: The Syrtes [Minores]… have no ports and are alarming because of the frequent shallows and even more dangerous because of the reversing movements of the sea as it flows in and out...then [there is] a second Syrtes, equal in name and nature to the first, but about twice the size (1.35–7).

These sources should not however be taken at face value: Mela goes on to say that there were no ports in the Greater Syrtes either, but his reliability on this point – and therefore presumably others – is highly questionable: Pseudo-Scylax, writing in the early 4th century BC, records a port in the larger gulf (109), and Strabo places a ‘very large emporium’ in the smaller one before Mela’s time (17.3.17). Furthermore, the ancient textual evidence is not unambiguous in its condemnation of the Syrtes. Plutarch gives a much less melodramatic account of Cato’s march than Strabo’s, saying (admittedly implausibly) that it took only seven days, and that locals were engaged to protect his troops from serpents (Cato Minor 56; see also the uneventful late 5th-century journey along the coast from Euesperides to Neapolis reported at Thucydides 7.50.2). And while Strabo pointed out the dangers of the sandbanks, he continues: On this account sailors travel along the coast at a distance, taking care lest they are caught off their guard and driven into these gulfs by winds. As in Cato, they do not avoid the area, but merely take precautions against its relative dangers. Similarly, Pliny’s warning that the gulf was ‘formidable because of the shallow and tidal water of the two Syrtes’ at Natural History 5.26 should be seen in the context of his broader claim in that work that all the coastlines of the Mediterranean were welcoming (NH 2.118).

Their infamous reputation is, however, found in Roman poetry, from Virgil (Aeneid IV, 41) on, the information in this section is largely taken from The Syrtes between East and West by Josephine Crawley Quinn.

After the coup d'état which brought Muammar Gaddafi to power in 1969, there were a number of international incidents concerning territorial claims of the Gaddafi regime over the waters of the Gulf of Sirte, the gulf was generally referred to by the US military in those times as 'Gulf of Sidra', after the increasingly important oil port of Sidra on its shores.[7]

In 1973, Gaddafi claimed much of the Gulf of Sirte to be within Libyan internal waters by drawing a straight line at 32 degrees, 30 minutes north between a point near Benghazi and the western headland of the gulf at Misrata with an exclusive 62 nautical miles (115 km) fishing zone.[8] Gaddafi declared it The Line of Death, the crossing of which would invite a military response, the US claimed its rights to conduct naval operations in international waters, using the modern international standard of 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial limit from a country's shore as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.[9] Gaddafi claimed it to be a territorial sea, not just a coastal area; in response the United States authorized Naval exercises in the Gulf of Sidra to conduct Freedom of Navigation (FON) operations.[10]

On 21 March 1973, Libyan fighter planes intercepted and fired on a U.S. Air ForceC-130 conducting signals intelligence off the Libyan coast.[11] During the encounter, two Libyan Mirage fighters signaled the C-130 to follow them toward Libya and land, prompting the American plane to take evasive action, the C-130 received cannon fire from the Libyan fighters as it fled, but was able to escape by using cloud cover. According to US officials, the American plane was never closer than 120 kilometers from the Libyan coast.[12]

While operating over the Mediterranean Sea on 16 September 1980, a US Boeing RC-135U Combat Sent reconnaissance plane was fired on by a Libyan fighter,[13] the RC-135 was not hit and the United States took no retaliatory action after the incident.

In August 1981, during the United States Sixth Fleet Freedom of Navigation exercises, Libyan fighter planes were assembled from elsewhere in the country to fly patrols near the American ships, on 19 August, two Libyan Su-22 Fitter fighter-bombers were intercepted by two F-14 Tomcat fighters from the aircraft carrier Nimitz. During the engagement, one of the American planes was targeted by an air-to-air Atoll missile, after evading the missile, the Tomcats shot down both Libyan planes with Sidewinder missiles. According to some reports, the two Libyan pilots managed to eject and were rescued from the sea. According to other reports, the parachute of one of the Libyan pilots failed to open.

In the spring of 1986, the U.S. Navy deployed three aircraft carrier task force groups, USS America, USS Coral Sea and USS Saratoga from the Sixth Fleet with 225 aircraft and some 30 warships across the "Line of Death" and into the disputed Gulf of Sidra. After a day of armed conflict, the operation was terminated after an unknown number of human and materiel losses to the Libyan side and no losses to the American side.

Two weeks later on 5 April 1986, a bomb exploded in a West Berlin disco, La Belle, killing two American servicemen, a Turkish woman and wounding 200 others.[13] The United States claimed to have obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany involved in the attack, after several days of diplomatic talks with European and Arab partners, PresidentRonald Reagan ordered eighteen F-111F strike aircraft of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying from RAF Lakenheath supported by four EF-111A Ravens of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing, from RAF Upper Heyford in England to strike targets in Libya in conjunction with fifteen A-6, A-7, F/A-18 attack aircraft and EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga, USS America and USS Coral Sea on station in the Gulf of Sidra. The planes flying from Britain had to fly over the Atlantic, down the coast of Spain, and then turn east into the Mediterranean because the French and Spanish governments refused permission to use their airspace for the attack, this necessitated use of mid-air refueling. The attack lasted about ten minutes, hitting several targets early on 15 April. Two American airmen[14] were killed when their plane was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra. Forty-five Libyan soldiers and government officials and fifteen civilians were also killed.

In 1989, in another Gulf of Sidra incident, two Libyan MiG-23 Flogger aircraft were shot down when it was believed they were about to attack the U.S. fighters that were in the area. In this instance, the Flogger pilots were reportedly lost when they were fired on and successfully shot down after a series of missile launches, although they were seen to eject and parachute into the sea.

1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation

2.
Mediterranean Sea
–
The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum

3.
Drainage basin
–
A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important

4.
Libya
–
The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya, the other large city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya. Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age, the Phoenicians established trading posts in western Libya, and ancient Greek colonists established city-states in eastern Libya. Libya was variously ruled by Carthaginians, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks before becoming a part of the Roman Empire, Libya was an early center of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century, in the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli, until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation of Libya resulted in the temporary Italian Libya colony from 1911 to 1943. During the Second World War Libya was an important area of warfare in the North African Campaign, the Italian population then went into decline. Libya became an independent kingdom in 1951, a military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I, beginning a period of sweeping social reform. Since then, Libya has experienced a period of instability, the European Union is involved in an operation to disrupt human trafficking networks exploiting refugees fleeing from wars in Africa for Europe. At least two political bodies claim to be the government of Libya, the Council of Deputies is internationally recognized as the legitimate government, but it does not hold territory in the capital, Tripoli, instead meeting in the Cyrenaica city of Tobruk. Parts of Libya are outside of either governments control, with various Islamist, rebel, the United Nations is sponsoring peace talks between the Tobruk and Tripoli-based factions. An agreement to form an interim government was signed on 17 December 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, a nine-member Presidency Council, the leaders of the new government, called the Government of National Accord, arrived in Tripoli on 5 April 2016. Since then the GNC, one of the two governments, has disbanded to support the new GNA. The name Libya was introduced in 1934 for Italian Libya, reviving the name for Northwest Africa. The name was based on use in 1903 by Italian geographer Federico Minutilli. It was intended to supplant terms applied to Ottoman Tripolitania, the region of what is today Libya having been ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911

5.
Sirte
–
Sirte, also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is on the south coast of the Gulf of Sidra, Sirte lies halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi. The settlement was established in the early 20th century by the Italians and it grew into a city after World War II. As the birthplace of Muammar Gaddafi, Sirte was favoured by the Gaddafi government, the city was the final major stronghold of Gaddafi loyalists in the Libyan Civil War and Gaddafi was killed there by rebel forces on 20 October 2011. During the battle, Sirte was left almost completely in ruins, six months after the civil war, almost 60,000 inhabitants, more than 70 percent of pre-war population, had returned. Sirte is built near the site of the ancient Phoenician city of Macomedes-Euphranta and it is the last confirmed place where the Punic language was spoken, in the 5th century CE. The region had no recognized administrative centre and was infested for centuries by bandits, in Classical times, the coast was proverbially dangerous to shipping, called inhospita Syrtis in Virgils Aeneid. John Miltons Paradise Lost Book 2 lines 939-940 speaks of a boggy Syrtis, in 1842 the Ottomans built a fortress at Marsat al Zaafran which became known as Qasr al Zaafran, and later as Qasr Sert. The fortress was built under sultan Abdülmecid I as part of the restoration of Ottoman control over Tripolitania after the fall of the Karamanli dynasty and it was around this fortification, which was taken over and repaired by the Italians in 1912, that the settlement of Sirte grew up. Sirte served as an administrative centre under Italian rule and he was sent to the primary school at Sirte at the age of ten. After 1988, most government departments and the Libyan parliament were relocated from Tripoli to Sirte, al-Tahadi University was established in 1991. In 1999, Gaddafi proposed the idea of creating a United States of Africa with Sirte as its administrative centre, ambitious plans to build a new international airport and seaport were announced in 2007. In 1999, the Sirte Declaration was signed in the city by the Organisation of African Unity in a conference that was hosted by Gaddafi, in 2007 he also hosted talks in Sirte to broker a peace agreement between the government of Sudan and warring factions in Darfur. On 5 March 2011, anti-Gaddafi forces said they were preparing to capture the city, however, on 6 March, the rebel advance was stopped during the Battle of Bin Jawad before reaching Sirte. Government forces launched a counter-offensive that recaptured Ras Lanuf and continued to advance as far as the outskirts of the de facto capital of Benghazi. Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, several Western and Arab countries then intervened with air and missile strikes, by 30 March, Gaddafi loyalists had forced the rebels out of Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf and once again removed the immediate threat of an attack on Sirte. In August, the city faced a severe threat from the rebels as the loyalist position deteriorated rapidly. As Tripoli came under attack, other rebel forces based in Benghazi broke the stalemate in the eastern desert, taking Brega

6.
Arabic
–
Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested

7.
Ancient Greek
–
Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek

8.
Tunisia
–
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent and it is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisias population was estimated to be just under 11 million in 2014, Tunisias name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, which is located on Tunisias northeast coast. Geographically, Tunisia contains the end of the Atlas Mountains. Much of the rest of the land is fertile soil. Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic and it is considered to be the only full democracy in the Arab World. It has a human development index. In addition, Tunisia is also a state of the United Nations. Close relations with Europe – in particular with France and with Italy – have been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation, in ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC, these immigrants founded Carthage, a major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans, who would occupy Tunisia for most of the eight hundred years, introduced Christianity. After several attempts starting in 647, the Arabs conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697, the Ottomans held sway for over three hundred years. The French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881, Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957. In 2011, the Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country voted for parliament again on 26 October 2014, and for President on 23 November 2014. The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis, an urban hub. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, the French derivative Tunisie was adopted in some European languages with slight modifications, introducing a distinctive name to designate the country. Other languages remained untouched, such as the Russian Туни́с and Spanish Túnez, in this case, the same name is used for both country and city, as with the Arabic تونس, and only by context can one tell the difference. The name Tunis can be attributed to different origins and it is generally associated with the Berber root ⵜⵏⵙ, transcribed tns, which means to lay down or encampment

9.
New Testament
–
The New Testament is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world and it reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies, the New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books, John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Others give a date of 80 AD, or at 96 AD. Over time, some disputed books, such as the Book of Revelation, other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as 1 Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Diatessaron, were excluded from the New Testament. However, the canon of the New Testament, at least since Late Antiquity, has been almost universally recognized within Christianity. The term new testament, or new covenant first occurs in Jeremiah 31,31, the same Greek phrase for new covenant is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Modern English, like Latin, distinguishes testament and covenant as alternative translations, John Wycliffes 1395 version is a translation of the Latin Vulgate and so follows different terms in Jeremiah and Hebrews, Lo. Days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel, for he reproving him saith, Lo. Days come, saith the Lord, when I shall establish a new testament on the house of Israel, use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian. In Against Marcion, written circa 208 AD, he writes of the Divine Word, by the 4th century, the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius, a 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae and that which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old, but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The canon of the New Testament is the collection of books that most Christians regard as divinely inspired, several of these writings sought to extend, interpret, and apply apostolic teaching to meet the needs of Christians in a given locality. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, the word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. The gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, Gospel is a calque of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion

10.
Bible
–
The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans. Many different authors contributed to the Bible, what is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups, a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint, the New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek. These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives, letters, among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups and this concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the book of all time. It has estimated sales of 100 million copies, and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West. The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin. Medieval Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra holy book, while biblia in Greek and it gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe. Latin biblia sacra holy books translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, the word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book. It is the diminutive of βύβλος byblos, Egyptian papyrus, possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece, the Greek ta biblia was an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books. Christian use of the term can be traced to c.223 CE, bruce notes that Chrysostom appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10th-century Masoretes to record the verse divisions used in oral traditions. The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the Vatican Library, the oldest copy of the Tanakh in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus and he states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that, Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, the period of transmission is short, less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Marks Gospel. This means that there was time for oral traditions to assume fixed form

11.
Paul the Apostle
–
Paul the Apostle, commonly known as Saint Paul, and also known by his native name Saul of Tarsus was an apostle who taught the gospel of the Christ to the first century world. He is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age, in the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences, according to writings in the New Testament, Paul was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem. He was struck blind but, after three days, his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus, and Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah, approximately half of the book of Acts deals with Pauls life and works. Fourteen of the books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul. Seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not asserted in the Epistle itself and was already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It was almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews, but that view is now almost universally rejected by scholars. The other six are believed by scholars to have come from followers writing in his name. Other scholars argue that the idea of an author for the disputed epistles raises many problems. Today, Pauls epistles continue to be roots of the theology, worship, and pastoral life in the Catholic and Protestant traditions of the West. Augustine of Hippo developed Pauls idea that salvation is based on faith, martin Luthers interpretation of Pauls writings influenced Luthers doctrine of sola fide. The main source for information about Pauls life is the material found in his epistles, however, the epistles contain little information about Pauls past. The book of Acts recounts more information but leaves several parts of Pauls life out of its narrative, such as his probable, some scholars believe Acts also contradicts Pauls epistles on multiple accounts, in particular concerning the frequency of Pauls visits to the church in Jerusalem. It has been assumed that Sauls name was changed when he converted from Judaism to Christianity. His Jewish name was Saul, perhaps after the biblical King Saul, a fellow Benjamite, according to the Book of Acts, he inherited Roman citizenship from his father. As a Roman citizen, he bore the Latin name of Paul—in biblical Greek, Παῦλος. It was quite usual for the Jews of that time to have two names, one Hebrew, the other Latin or Greek. Jesus called him Saul, Saul in the Hebrew tongue in the book of Acts, later, in a vision to Ananias of Damascus, the Lord referred to him as Saul, of Tarsus

12.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth

13.
Nero
–
Nero was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, during his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed a revolt in Britain, Nero annexed the Bosporan Kingdom to the empire and may have begun the First Jewish–Roman War. In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, Suetonius, writing a generation later, claims that many Romans believed Nero himself had started the fire, in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne, facing a false report of being denounced as a public enemy who was to be executed, he committed suicide on 9 June 68. His death ended the Julio-Claudian dynasty, sparking a period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Neros rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance and he is known for many executions, including that of his mother, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother Britannicus. Nero was rumored to have had captured Christians dipped in oil and this view is based on the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Neros reign, but a few sources paint Nero in a more favourable light. Some sources, including some mentioned above, portray him as an emperor who was popular with the common Roman people, some modern historians question the reliability of ancient sources when reporting on Neros tyrannical acts. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero, was born on 15 December 37 in Antium and he was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Emperor Caligula. Neros father, Gnaeus, was the son of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Gnaeus was thus the grandson of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and probably Aemilia Lepida on his fathers side, and the grandson of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor on his mothers side. Thus, Nero had as his paternal grandmother Antonia Major, through Octavia, Nero was the great-nephew of Caesar Augustus. Neros father had employed as a praetor and was a member of Caligulas staff when the latter travelled to the East. Neros father was described by Suetonius as a murderer and a cheat who was charged by Emperor Tiberius with treason, adultery, Tiberius died, allowing him to escape these charges. Neros father died of edema in 39 when Nero was two, Neros mother was Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of Caesar Augustus and his wife Scribonia through their daughter Julia the Elder and her husband Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippinas father, Germanicus, was a grandson of Augustuss wife, Livia, on one side and Mark Antony, Germanicus mother Antonia Minor was a daughter of Octavia Minor and Mark Antony. Germanicus was also the son of Tiberius. Agrippina poisoned her second husband Passienus Crispus, so many ancient historians also accuse her of murdering her third husband, the emperor Claudius

14.
Malta
–
Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease

15.
Tabula Peutingeriana
–
Tabula Peutingeriana, also referred to as Peutingers Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated itinerarium showing the layout of cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-century parchment copy of the Roman original, and covers Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia. The original map which the copy is based on is thought to date to the 4th or 5th century and was itself based on a map prepared by Agrippa during the reign of the emperor Augustus. Named after the 16th-century German antiquarian Konrad Peutinger, the map is today kept at the Austrian National Library in Vienna. After Agrippas death in 12 BC, that map was engraved in marble and put on display in the Porticus Vipsania in the Campus Agrippae area in Rome, bowersock concluded that the original source is likely the map made by Vipsanius Agrippa. The original Roman map, of which this is the surviving copy, was last revised in the 4th or early 5th century. The presence of cities of Germania Inferior that were destroyed in the mid-fifth century also provides a terminus ante quem. The Tabula Peutingeriana is the known surviving map of the Roman cursus publicus. The map itself was created by a monk in Colmar in modern-day eastern France in 1265 and it is a parchment scroll,0.34 metres high and 6.75 metres long, assembled from eleven sections, a medieval reproduction of the original scroll. The map shows many Roman settlements and the roads connecting them, as well as features such as rivers, mountains, forests. The distances between settlements are also given, in total no less than 555 cities and 3,500 other place names are shown on the map. The three most important cities of the Roman Empire at the time – Rome, Constantinople and Antioch – are represented with special iconic decoration. Besides the totality of the empire, the map also shows areas in the Near East, India and the Ganges, Sri Lanka, and even an indication of China. It even shows a Temple to Augustus at Muziris on the modern-day Malabar Coast, the map appears to be based on itineraries, lists of destinations along Roman roads, as the distances between points along the routes are indicated. Travelers would not have possessed anything so sophisticated as a modern map, the Peutinger Table represents these roads as a series of stepped lines along which destinations have been marked in order of travel. The shape of the parchment pages accounts for the rectangular layout. However, a similarity to the coordinates of Ptolemys earth-mapping gives some writers hope that some terrestrial representation was intended by the unknown original compilers. The Peutinger family kept possession of the map for more than two hundred years until it was sold in 1714 and it is today conserved at the Austrian National Library at the Hofburg palace in Vienna

16.
Strabo
–
Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus, Strabos life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus. He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, in 29 BC, on his way to Corinth, he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae and it is not known precisely when Strabos Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around 17 or 18 AD, the latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD23 of Juba II, king of Maurousia, who is said to have died just recently. He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, on the presumption that recently means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next, when he died. The first of Strabos major works, Historical Sketches, written while he was in Rome, is completely lost. Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialties throughout his life at different stops along his Mediterranean travels. His first chapter of education took place in Nysa under the master of rhetoric Aristodemus, Strabo was an admirer of Homers poetry, perhaps a consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus, despite Xenarchuss Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus. Although Tyrannion was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, the final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites, a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus endowed to Strabo three important items, his philosophy, his knowledge, and his contacts, moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which he would not otherwise have known. Strabo is most notable for his work Geographica, which presented a history of people. Although the Geographica was rarely utilized in its antiquity, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire. It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469, the first Greek edition was published in 1516 in Venice

17.
Virgil
–
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜːrdʒᵻl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He wrote three of the most famous poems in Latin literature, the Eclogues, the Georgics, a number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him. Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Romes greatest poets and his Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Virgils work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably Dantes Divine Comedy, in which Virgil appears as Dantes guide through Hell, the tradition holds that Virgil was born in the village of Andes, near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul. Analysis of his name has led to beliefs that he descended from earlier Roman colonists, modern speculation ultimately is not supported by narrative evidence either from his own writings or his later biographers. Macrobius says that Virgils father was of a background, however. He attended schools in Cremona, Mediolanum, Rome and Naples, after considering briefly a career in rhetoric and law, the young Virgil turned his talents to poetry. From Virgils admiring references to the neoteric writers Pollio and Cinna, it has been inferred that he was, for a time, according to Servius, schoolmates considered Virgil extremely shy and reserved, and he was nicknamed Parthenias or maiden because of his social aloofness. Virgil also seems to have suffered bad health throughout his life, according to the Catalepton, he began to write poetry while in the Epicurean school of Siro the Epicurean at Naples. A group of works attributed to the youthful Virgil by the commentators survive collected under the title Appendix Vergiliana. One, the Catalepton, consists of fourteen poems, some of which may be Virgils, and another. The biographical tradition asserts that Virgil began the hexameter Eclogues in 42 BC and it is thought that the collection was published around 39–38 BC, the Eclogues are a group of ten poems roughly modeled on the bucolic hexameter poetry of the Hellenistic poet Theocritus. The loss of his farm and the attempt through poetic petitions to regain his property have traditionally been seen as Virgils motives in the composition of the Eclogues. This is now thought to be an unsupported inference from interpretations of the Eclogues, the ten Eclogues present traditional pastoral themes with a fresh perspective. Eclogues 1 and 9 address the land confiscations and their effects on the Italian countryside,2 and 3 are pastoral and erotic, discussing both homosexual love and attraction toward people of any gender. Eclogue 4, addressed to Asinius Pollio, the so-called Messianic Eclogue uses the imagery of the age in connection with the birth of a child. Virgil came to many of the other leading literary figures of the time, including Horace, in whose poetry he is often mentioned, and Varius Rufus. At Maecenas insistence Virgil spent the years on the long didactic hexameter poem called the Georgics which he dedicated to Maecenas

18.
Battle of the Mediterranean
–
The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940 to 2 May 1945. American naval and air units joined the Allied side in 1942, each side had three overall objectives in this battle. The first was to attack the supply lines of the other side, the second was to keep open the supply lines to their own armies in North Africa. The third was to destroy the ability of the navy to wage war at sea. Outside of the Pacific theatre, the Mediterranean saw the largest conventional naval actions during the conflict. In particular, Allied forces struggled to supply and retain the key naval, in total the Allies lost 76 warships and 46 submarines. In return the Allies sank 83 Italian warships totaling 195,100 tons and 83 submarines, German losses in the Med from the start of the campaign to the end were 68 submarines. The Mediterranean was a focus of British maritime power. Out-numbered by the forces of the Regia Marina, the British plan was to hold the three strategic points of Gibraltar, Malta, and the Suez Canal. By holding these points, the Mediterranean Fleet held open vital supply routes, Malta was the lynch-pin of the whole system. It provided a stop for Allied convoys and a base from which to attack the Axis supply routes. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini saw the control of the Mediterranean as a prerequisite for expanding his New Roman Empire into Nice, Corsica, Tunis. Italian naval building accelerated during his tenure, Mussolini described the Mediterranean Sea as Mare Nostrum. The warships of the Regia Marina had a reputation as well-designed. Italian small attack craft lived up to expectations and were responsible for many brave, only by the spring of 1943, barely five months before the armistice, twelve Italian warships were equipped with Italian-designed EC-3 ter Gufo radar devices. In addition, whereas Allied commanders at sea had discretion to act on their own initiative, the Regia Marina also lacked a proper fleet air arm. The aircraft carrier Aquila was never completed and most air support during the Battle of the Mediterranean was supplied by the land-based Regia Aeronautica, another major handicap for the Italians was the shortage of fuel. As early as March 1941, the scarcity of fuel oil was critical

19.
HMS Cleopatra (33)
–
HMS Cleopatra was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited and she was launched on 27 March 1940, and commissioned on 5 December 1941. Cleopatra went out to Gibraltar early in 1942, and on 9 February she sailed for Malta, after repair, she was transferred to Alexandria in early March for the 15th Cruiser Squadron. During the engagement, Cleopatra´s radar and wireless stations were wrecked by a 6 round fired by the Italian light cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere, other reports state that Cleopatras after turrets were also damaged. In June 1942, she covered Operation Harpoon and Vigorous, Cleopatra was drydocked in Massawa on 19 September 1942 for minor repairs and cleaning and was undocked five days later. During the refloating, she slipped on the angled drydock, crushing every wooden keel block on the dock, captain G. Grantham considered the resulting leak a minor nuisance and ordered Cleopatra to return to service. By January 1943, Cleopatra was part of Force K, later Force Q at Bône, from where the Axis traffic to and from Tunisia was attacked. Later, she was a unit of the 12th Cruiser Squadron, however, on 16 July 1943, Cleopatra was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Dandolo and again badly damaged. Temporary repairs were made at Malta which lasted until October 1943, after which she sailed to Philadelphia, US, like HMS Phobe, Cleopatra was fitted with quad bofors in place of its pom poms. Mediterranean experience had shown that air attacks over the bows were common and these were completed in November 1944, and in 1945 she went out to the East Indies, where she was the first ship into the newly recaptured base at Singapore in September. Cleopatra served post-war with the 5th Cruiser Squadron in the East Indies until returning to Portsmouth on 7 February 1946 to refit, while in the Mediterranean, she took a starring role in the 1953 film of C. S. Foresters Brown on Resolution. Cleopatra plays both the fictional Royal Navy ships HMS Amesbury and HMS Stratford, as Amesbury she is heroically sunk by the more powerful German raider Essen, and as Stratford, she triumphs at the end of the story. The two battle sequences depict this open-bridge light-cruiser firing her guns and torpedoes in some detail and she returned to Chatham on 12 February 1953 to be paid off. In June of that year she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, from late 1953 to 1956 HMS Cleopatra was flagship of the reserve squadron. On 15 December 1958, she arrived at the Newport yard of J Cashmore for breaking up, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. WWII cruisers HMS Cleopatra at Uboat. net www. hmscleopatra. co. uk

20.
HMS Euryalus (42)
–
HMS Euryalus was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built at Chatham Dockyard UK, with the keel being laid down on 21 October 1937 and she was launched on 6 June 1939, and commissioned 30 June 1941. Euryalus was the last cruiser that Chatham Dockyard built,11 November 1941 jointed 15th Cruiser Squadron at Alexandria for service in Mediterranean Fleet. 24th of this month deployed with HMS Ajax, HMS Galatea, HMS Naiad and HMS Neptune, Force B, in search for convoys on passage to Benghazi. On 15 December 1941 left the 15th cruiser squadron, with the cruisers HMS Naiad, HMS Euryalus, on 17 December 1941 joining with Force K, comes from Malta, to escort the Breconshire back to the Island. The 15th cruiser squadron with HMS Euryalus sailed to Alexandria the next day,23 January 1943 with HMS Cleopatra and the destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Nubian and HMS Kelvin bombardment of the german-italian forces at Zuara. 17 September 1941 jointed escort for convoy WS, from 24 to 30 September 1941 Convoy Operation Halberd, to supporting the Island of Malta. Nine fast freighters, escorted by three battleships, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, five cruisers and eighteen destroyers started from Gibraltar,1 October now part of Force W, Gibraltar. 12 February 1942 part of the force B to cover convoy MW,9, with HMS Naiad, HMS Dido and eight destroyers. On the 14th heavy german bomber attacks against MW,9, the mechant ship Clan Chattan scuttled. Vians ships are back at Alexandria on the morning of 15 February,12 till 16 June 1942 Operation Vigorous, a Malta supplying convoy, starting at Alexandria, Port Said and Haifa. 10 July 1943 part of the amphibious landings on Sicily. In this time join the 12th cruiser squadron with HMS Aurora, HMS Penelope, HMS Cleopatra, HMS Sirius and HMS Dido. Assignment was to cover the attack forces, together with the parts of the powerful Force H with four battleships. The reserve force with the battleships HMS Howe, HMS King George V. From the USN five cruisers,48 destroyers,190 landing ships,510 landing boats,510 other vessels and 66 transport vessels, further 31 warships from Netherland, Poland, Belgium, Norway and Greece. HMS Euryalus was involved on the landings to Salerno on 9 September 1943 as part of the TF88. January 45 part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, Trincomalee, Ceylon,24 January Operation Meridian I, to cover carrier attacks of refineries at Pladjoe, Sumatra

21.
First Battle of Sirte
–
The First Battle of Sirte was fought between the British Royal Navy and the Regia Marina during the Mediterranean campaign of the Second World War. The engagement, largely uneventful, took place on 17 December 1941, southeast of Malta, by the end of December, the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean had shifted in favour of the Italian Fleet. The British 8th Army and the Axis armies were engaged in battles resulting from Operation Crusader and its aim was to defeat the Afrika Korps and relieve the siege of Tobruk. This had been achieved, and Axis forces were conducting a fighting retreat, by 13 December, they were holding a line at Gazala. The Axis were desperate to re-supply their forces, intending to transport stores to Tripoli, their port in Libya, and Benghazi. Meanwhile, the garrison of Malta was under siege. The Italians were preparing to send a convoy of eight ships, designated M41. This operation would commence on 15 December, the battleship Vittorio Veneto was torpedoed, and forced to return. The Italian Navys High Command, rattled by these losses and a report that a British force of two battleships was abroad, ordered the ships to return to await reinforcement, in fact, the force of two battleships was a decoy mission carried out by the minelayer HMS Abdiel. The British were also preparing their operation, but their force was depleted when the light cruiser HMS Galatea was torpedoed and sunk by U-557, on 15 December, Breconshire sailed from Alexandria, with her as escort were three cruisers and eight destroyers under Rear-Admiral Philip Vian. On 16 December, the four destroyers of 4th Flotilla, under Commander G. Stokes, left Malta, covered by Force K, on 16 December, the four-ship Italian convoy, re-designated M42, left Taranto, picking up escorts along the way. The close escort was provided by seven destroyers and a torpedo boat, by the time they reached Sicily they were also accompanied by a Close Cover Force, comprising the battleship Caio Duilio, three light cruisers and three destroyers. A third group, the Distant Covering Force, also formed up for detached support, consisting of the battleships Littorio, Andrea Doria and Giulio Cesare, some measure of the importance of the mission can be seen in the fact that 30 Italian warships were escorting four cargo ships. The two British groups were also at sea and steaming toward each other, the forces were destined to cross each others tracks east of Malta on 18 December. On 17 December, an Italian reconnaissance plane spotted the British west-bound formation near Sidi Barrani, thereafter, the British convoy was shadowed by Axis planes and attacked during the afternoon, although no hits were scored. Also during the day, Agnew and Stokes met the west-bound convoy, by late afternoon the Italian fleet was close by, and spotter planes from the battleships had made contact with the British convoy. At 17,42, the fleets sighted each other, Admiral Angelo Iachino—commander of the Italian forces—moved to intercept to cover his convoy. Vian also wished to combat, so with the British giving ground and the Italians pursuing with caution

22.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan

23.
Regia Marina
–
The Royal Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic, the Royal Navy changed its name to Military Navy, the Regia Marina was established on 17 March 1861 following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. These problems were compounded by the continuation of separate officer schools at Genoa and Naples and these innovations quickly made older warships obsolete. The new navys baptism of fire came on 20 July 1866 at the Battle of Lissa during the Third Italian War of Independence, the battle was fought against the Austrian Empire and occurred near the island of Vis in the Adriatic sea. The Italian fleet, commanded by Admiral Persano, mustered 12 ironclad and 17 wooden-hulled ships, though only one, in 1896 the corvette Magenta completed a circumnavigation of the world. The following year the Regia Marina conducted experiments with Guglielmo Marconi in the use of radio communications,1909 saw the first use of aircraft with the fleet. An Italian naval officer, Vittorio Cuniberti, was the first in 1903 to envision in an article the all-big gun battleship design. In 1911 and 1912, the Regia Marina was involved in the Italo-Turkish War against forces of the Ottoman Empire, in the Red Sea the Italian forces were vastly superior to those of the Ottomans who only possessed a squadron of gunboats there. These were destroyed while attempting to withdraw into the Mediterranean at the Battle of Kunfuda Bay, during the war, the Regia Marina spent its major efforts in the Adriatic Sea, fighting the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Considered a relatively minor part of the warfare of World War I. For most of the war the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies each kept a relatively passive watch over their adversaries, the Italian fleet lost the pre-dreadnought battleship Benedetto Brin at Brindisi and the dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci at Taranto due to a magazine explosion. The battleship SMS Tegetthoff was handed over to Italy as a war prize in 1919, during the interwar years the Italian government set about modernizing the Regia Marina in a way that could enable it to reach dominance over the Mediterranean Sea. Italian naval construction was limited by the Washington Naval Conference, the 1922 treaty required a parity in naval forces between the Italian and French navies, with equality in total displacement in battleships and carriers. The treaty influenced the development of the Italian fleet over the years between the two world wars, much of these new naval units were responses to French naval constructions, as the Marine nationale was seen until the mid 1930s as the most likely enemy in a hypothetical conflict. In theory this would allow them to engage or break off at their own choosing, New guns were developed with longer ranges than their British counterparts of similar caliber. Speed was emphasized in their new construction, subsequently, newer Italian cruisers such as the Giovanni dalle Bande Nere were built with a newly designed and relatively thin armour. The armor of these vessels was 24 mm, as compared to 102 mm on their contemporaries and this would have a decisive role in a number of naval battles, including the Battle of Cape Spada. The modernization work on the four Great War era battleships turned into a significant reconstruction project, the ships guns were upgraded in main armament, going from 13 guns of 305mm diameter, to 10 guns of 320mm diameter

24.
Royal Navy
–
The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive

25.
Second Battle of Sirte
–
The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta frustrated a much more powerful Regia Marina squadron. The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four cruisers, one anti-aircraft cruiser. The Italian force comprised a battleship, two cruisers, one light cruiser, and eight destroyers. The battle occurred on 22 March 1942, in the Mediterranean, north of the Gulf of Sidra and southeast of Malta, during the Second World War. Malta had long been a factor in British successes against Italian convoys to North Africa. After a series of Allied setbacks changed the scenario, the Italians achieved naval superiority over their enemies by spring 1942. As Malta was running short of aircraft, antiaircraft guns, fuel, food and ammunition, the British expected opposition from German and Italian aircraft as well as Italian surface units. The next day, the squadron aborted the operation and returned to port – the carriers were unable to fly off aircraft reinforcements to Malta due to defective long-range fuel tanks, additional destroyers and another light cruiser were also sent from Malta. Admiral Sir Philip Vian, commanding the convoy, organised his ships into six divisions plus an escort for the convoy of five Hunt-class destroyers. The first five divisions would act as a rearguard to lay smoke and delay the enemy while Carlisle, at 14,30 the next day, the British were faced by a pair of heavy cruisers and escorting destroyers. Admiral Vian immediately implemented his plan, the ships and escorts turned away to the south while the light cruisers and remaining destroyers laid smoke. The battle raged for two and a half hours, with the British ships leaving the safety of their huge smoke screen to fire a few volleys and then returning to it when the Italian salvoes got too close. During one of these exchanges, Havock suffered heavy damage from a near-miss when fired at by the Italian battleship, and was ordered to withdraw from the battle line and join the convoy. At 18,34, Vian decided to send his destroyers in to launch attacks from about 5,000 yd. None of the torpedoes found their target, but as Kingston turned she was hit hard by a round which penetrated her boiler room, ignited a fire and temporarily brought her to a halt. Lively was also struck by shell splinters from the main guns that pierced a bulkhead, causing some flooding. Right at the end of the action, at 18,55, Littorio had been hit by a 4.7 in shell and her floatplane caught fire from the blast from a salvo of her after turret at the same time. This led to the claim by the British that one of the torpedoes struck home, at dusk, about 19,00, the Italians gave up and turned for home

26.
Muammar Gaddafi
–
Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi, commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and he was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, but he came to rule according to his own Third International Theory. Gaddafi was born near Sirte to an impoverished Bedouin family and he became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha, later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi. Within the military he founded a cell which, in a 1969 coup. Now in power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council, an Islamic modernist, he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and promoted Islamic socialism. In 1973, he initiated a Popular Revolution with the formation of General Peoples Committees, purported to be a system of direct democracy and he outlined his Third International Theory that year, publishing these ideas in The Green Book. In 1977, Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called the Jamahiriya, officially he adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. A particularly hostile relationship developed with the United States, United Kingdom, from 1999, Gaddafi rejected Arab socialism and encouraged economic privatisation, rapprochement with Western nations, and Pan-Africanism, he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009–10. Amid the 2011 Arab Spring, protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya, the situation descended into civil war, in which NATO intervened militarily on the side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council. The government was overthrown and Gaddafi, who had retreated to Sirte, was captured and killed by NTC militants, a highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libyas politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi was born in a tent near Qasr Abu Hadi and his family came from a small, relatively un-influential tribal group called the Qadhadhfa, who were Arabized Berber in heritage. His mother was named Aisha, and his father, Mohammad Abdul Salam bin Hamed bin Mohammad, was known as Abu Meniar, nomadic Bedouins, they were illiterate and kept no birth records. His parents only surviving son, he had three older sisters, Gaddafis upbringing in Bedouin culture influenced his personal tastes for the rest of his life, he preferred the desert over the city and would retreat there to meditate. According to later claims, Gaddafis paternal grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar, was killed by the Italian Army during the Italian invasion of 1911, at World War IIs end in 1945, Libya was occupied by British and French forces. Although Britain and France intended on dividing the nation between their empires, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that the country be granted political independence. In 1951, the UN created the United Kingdom of Libya, a state under the leadership of a pro-Western monarch, Idris. Gaddafis earliest education was of a nature, imparted by a local Islamic teacher. Subsequently moving to nearby Sirte to attend school, he progressed through six grades in four years

27.
Territorial waters
–
Adjustment of these boundaries is called, in international law, maritime delimitation. Normally, the baseline from which the sea is measured is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal state. Straight baselines can alternatively be defined connecting fringing islands along a coast, across the mouths of rivers, or with certain restrictions across the mouths of bays. An indentation shall not, however, be regarded as a bay unless its area is as large as, or larger than, the baseline across the bay must also be no more than 24 nautical miles in length. Waters landward of the baseline are defined as waters, over which the state has complete sovereignty. Lakes and rivers are considered internal waters, however, archipelagic states may designate certain sea lanes through these waters. A states territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from its baseline, if this would overlap with another states territorial sea, the border is taken as the median point between the states baselines, unless the states in question agree otherwise. A state can also choose to claim a territorial sea. Conflicts still occur whenever a coastal nation claims an entire gulf as its territorial waters while other nations recognize the more restrictive definitions of the UN convention. In the U. S. federal system, individual states exercise ownership up to 3 nautical miles from shore and this will typically be 12 nautical miles wide, but could be more, or less, if it would otherwise overlap another states contiguous zone. However, unlike the sea, there is no standard rule for resolving such conflicts. The United States invoked a contiguous zone out to 24 nmi on 24 September 1999, an exclusive economic zone extends from the outer limit of the territorial sea to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline, thus it includes the contiguous zone. A coastal nation has control of all resources within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining, oil exploration. Indeed, the economic zone is still popularly, though erroneously. Article 76 gives the definition of continental shelf of coastal countries. For the physical geography definition, see the continental shelf page, coastal states have the right of exploration and exploitation of its natural resources, however other states could lay cables and pipelines if they are authorised by the coastal state. The foot of the slope is determined as the point of maximum change in the gradient at its base. The portion of the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit is known as the extended continental shelf

28.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
–
The Convention, concluded in 1982, replaced four 1958 treaties. UNCLOS came into force in 1994, a year after Guyana became the 60th nation to ratify the treaty, as of June 2016,167 countries and the European Union have joined in the Convention. It is uncertain as to what extent the Convention codifies customary international law, there is, however, a role played by organizations such as the International Maritime Organization, the International Whaling Commission, and the International Seabed Authority. All waters beyond national boundaries were considered international waters, free to all nations, in the early 20th century, some nations expressed their desire to extend national claims, to include mineral resources, to protect fish stocks, and to provide the means to enforce pollution controls. Other nations were quick to follow suit, between 1946 and 1950, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador extended their rights to a distance of 200 nautical miles to cover their Humboldt Current fishing grounds. Other nations extended their territorial seas to 12 nautical miles, by 1967, only 25 nations still used the old 3-mile limit, while 66 nations had set a 12-nautical-mile territorial limit and eight had set a 200-nautical-mile limit. As of 28 May 2008, only two countries use the 3-mile limit, Jordan and Palau. That limit is used in certain Australian islands, an area of Belize, some Japanese straits, certain areas of Papua New Guinea. In 1956, the United Nations held its first Conference on the Law of the Sea at Geneva, in 1960, the United Nations held the second Conference on the Law of the Sea, however, the six-week Geneva conference did not result in any new agreements. Generally speaking, developing nations and third world countries participated only as clients, allies, or dependents of the United States or the Soviet Union, with no significant voice of their own. The issue of varying claims of territorial waters was raised in the UN in 1967 by Arvid Pardo of Malta, in an attempt to reduce the possibility of groups of nation-states dominating the negotiations, the conference used a consensus process rather than majority vote. With more than 160 nations participating, the conference lasted until 1982, the resulting convention came into force on 16 November 1994, one year after the 60th state, Guyana, ratified the treaty. The convention introduced a number of provisions, the convention set the limit of various areas, measured from a carefully defined baseline. The areas are as follows, Internal waters Covers all water, the coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Foreign vessels have no right of passage within internal waters, territorial waters Out to 12 nautical miles from the baseline, the coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Fishing, polluting, weapons practice, and spying are not innocent, Nations can also temporarily suspend innocent passage in specific areas of their territorial seas, if doing so is essential for the protection of its security. Archipelagic waters The convention set the definition of Archipelagic States in Part IV, a baseline is drawn between the outermost points of the outermost islands, subject to these points being sufficiently close to one another. All waters inside this baseline are designated Archipelagic Waters, the state has sovereignty over these waters, but subject to existing rights including traditional fishing rights of immediately adjacent states

29.
United States Air Force
–
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source

30.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac and it is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty variants and versions of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as the Lockheed L-100, the C-130 entered service with the U. S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, the C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers,72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a compartment that was approximately 41 feet long,9 feet high. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage. A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, as was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane. The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, the new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate, the remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs, Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was an affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design. The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206, both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951. The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, the aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Real, kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune. After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009. The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers, deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D, four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models

31.
Signals intelligence
–
Signals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether communications between people or from electronic signals not directly used in communication. Signals intelligence is a subset of intelligence collection management, as sensitive information is often encrypted, signals intelligence in turn involves the use of cryptanalysis to decipher the messages. Traffic analysis—the study of who is signaling whom and in what quantity—is also used to derive information, electronic interception appeared as early as 1900, during the Boer War of 1899-1902. The British Royal Navy had installed wireless sets produced by Marconi on board their ships in the late 1890s, the Boers captured some wireless sets and used them to make vital transmissions. Since the British were the only people transmitting at the time, the birth of signals intelligence in a modern sense dates from the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Over the course of the First World War, the new method of signals intelligence reached maturity, in 1918, French intercept personnel captured a message written in the new ADFGVX cipher, which was cryptanalyzed by Georges Painvin. This gave the Allies advance warning of the German 1918 Spring offensive, the British in particular built up great expertise in the newly emerging field of signals intelligence and codebreaking. On the declaration of war, Britain cut all German undersea cables and this forced the Germans to use either a telegraph line that connected through the British network and could be tapped, or through radio which the British could then intercept. Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver appointed Sir Alfred Ewing to establish an interception and decryption service at the Admiralty, an interception service known as Y service, together with the post office and Marconi stations grew rapidly to the point where the British could intercept almost all official German messages. The German fleet was in the each day of wirelessing the exact position of each ship. Whenever a change to the pattern was seen, it immediately signalled that some operation was about to take place. Detailed information about submarine movements was also available, the use of radio receiving equipment to pinpoint the location of the transmitter was also developed during the war. Captain H. J. Round working for Marconi, began carrying out experiments with direction finding equipment for the army in France in 1915. By May 1915, the Admiralty was able to track German submarines crossing the North Sea, some of these stations also acted as Y stations to collect German messages, but a new section was created within Room 40 to plot the positions of ships from the directional reports. Room 40 played an important role in naval engagements during the war. The battle of Dogger Bank was won in no small part due to the intercepts that allowed the Navy to position its ships in the right place. It played a role in subsequent naval clashes, including at the Battle of Jutland as the British fleet was sent out to intercept them. The direction-finding capability allowed for the tracking and location of German ships, submarines, however its most astonishing success was in decrypting the Zimmermann Telegram, a telegram from the German Foreign Office sent via Washington to its ambassador Heinrich von Eckardt in Mexico

32.
Dassault Mirage 5
–
The Dassault Mirage 5 is a supersonic attack aircraft designed in France by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s, and manufactured in France and a number of other countries. It was derived from Dassaults popular Mirage III fighter, and spawned several variants of its own, the aircraft is capable of nuclear weapons delivery. The Mirage 5 grew out of a request to Dassault from the Israeli Air Force, in September 1966, the Israelis placed an order for 50 of the new aircraft. The first Mirage 5 flew on 19 May 1967 and it looked much like the Mirage III, except that it had a long slender nose that extended the aircrafts length by about half a metre. A pitot tube was moved from the tip of the nose to below the nose in the majority of Mirage 5 variants. The Mirage 5 retained the IIIEs twin DEFA guns, but added two additional pylons, for a total of seven, provision for the SEPR rocket engine was deleted. Rising tensions in the Middle East led French President Charles de Gaulle to embargo the Israeli Mirage 5s on 3 June 1967. The Mirages continued to roll off the line, even though they were embargoed, and by 1968 the batch was complete. The French government became suspicious when the Israelis also tried to obtain long-range fuel tanks, the Israelis finally gave up trying to acquire the aircraft and accepted a refund. Officially, Israel claimed to have built the aircraft after obtaining complete blueprints, like the Mirage IIIE, the Mirage 5 was popular with export customers, with different export variants fitted with a wide range of different avionics. While the Mirage 5 had been oriented to the clear-weather attack role. Reconnaissance and two-seat versions of the Mirage 5 were sold, with the designation Mirage 5R, however, a little consideration of the differences between a Mirage III and a Mirage 5 quickly shows that these designations were simply for marketing purposes. There was no dividing line between the configuration of a Mirage III reconnaissance or trainer version and that of a Mirage 5 equivalent, and were one. The Mirage 5 was sold to Abu Dhabi, Belgium, Colombia, Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Pakistan, Peru, Venezuela, the Belgian aircraft were fitted with mostly US avionics, and Egyptian aircraft fitted with the MS2 attack avionics system from the Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet. In 1978 and 1980, Israel sold a total of 35 of their Neshers plus four Nesher trainer aircraft to Argentina, south Africa purchased five Nesher trainers for trials during its own Atlas Cheetah fighter programme. All the aircraft were upgraded to Cheetah D standard. Chile incorporated some Mirage 5s under name Mirage Elkan, a total of 582 Mirage 5s were built, including 51 Israeli Neshers. In 1968, the Belgian government ordered 106 Mirage 5s from Dassault to re-equip No 3 Wing at Bierset air base, all aircraft but the first one were to be license-built by SABCA in Belgium

33.
Boeing RC-135
–
Based on the C-135 Stratolifter airframe, various types of RC-135s have been in service since 1961. Unlike the C-135 and KC-135 which are recognized by Boeing as the Model 717, many variants have been modified numerous times, resulting in a large variety of designations, configurations, and program names. The first RC-135 variant, the RC-135A, was ordered in 1962 by the United States Air Force to replace the Boeing RB-50 Superfortress, originally nine were ordered but this was later reduced to four. Boeing allocated the variant the designation Boeing 739-700 but they were modified variant of the KC-135A then in production. They used the same Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines as the tanker variant and they had no refueling system fitted and they were to be used for photographic and surveying tasks. The next variant ordered was the RC-135B to be used as an electronic intelligence aircraft to replace the Boeing RB-47H Stratojet on ELINT duties, unlike the earlier variants, the RC-135Bs were fitted with Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofans rather than the older J57s. These ten aircraft were delivered directly Martin Aircraft beginning in 1965 for installation of their operational electronics suite, by 1967, they emerged as RC-135Cs and all entered service that year. The refueling boom was not fitted and the boom operator station was used as a bay for a KA-59 camera. Externally, the aircraft were fitted with sideways looking airborne radar antenna on the forward fuselage. The RC-135Bs were the last of the new aircraft built, all further reconnaissance variants that followed were modified aircraft, either from earlier RC-135 variants or from tankers and transports. The AMP standard includes conversion from analog readouts to a glass cockpit configuration. The current RC-135 fleet is the latest iteration of modifications to this pool of aircraft dating back to the early 1960s, initially employed by Strategic Air Command for reconnaissance, the RC-135 fleet has participated in every armed conflict involving U. S. forces during its tenure. RC-135s have maintained a constant presence in Southwest Asia since the early 1990s and they were stalwarts of Cold War operations, with missions flown around the periphery of the USSR and its client states in Europe and around the world. Originally, all RC-135s were operated by Strategic Air Command, since 1992 they have been assigned to Air Combat Command. The RC-135 fleet is based at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The 55th Wing operates 22 platforms in three variants, three RC-135S Cobra Ball, two RC-135U Combat Sent, and 17 RC-135V/W Rivet Joint. On August 9,2010, the Rivet Joint recognized its 20th anniversary of service in Central Command. This represents the longest unbroken presence of any aircraft in the Air Force inventory, the RAF received the first RC-135W in September 2013, which was deployed from July 2014 to support coalition action against combat Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants in Iraq

34.
Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)
–
In the first Gulf of Sidra incident,19 August 1981, two Libyan Su-22 Fitter fired upon and were subsequently shot down by two American F-14 Tomcats off the Libyan coast. In 1973, Libya claimed the Gulf of Sidra as a closed bay and this prompted the United States to conduct Freedom of Navigation operations in the area since the claim did not meet the criteria established by international law. FON operations intensified when Ronald Reagan came to office, in August 1981, he authorized a large naval force led by a pair of aircraft carriers, USS Forrestal and USS Nimitz, to deploy to the disputed area. The Libyan Air Force responded by deploying a number of interceptors and fighter-bombers. Early on the morning of 18 August, when the U. S. exercise began, the Libyans tried to establish the exact location of the U. S. naval force. Thirty-five pairs of MiG-23 Floggers, MiG-25s, Sukhoi Su-20 Fitter-Cs, Su-22M Fitter-Js and Mirage F1s flew into the area, U. S. Naval Intelligence later assessed that a MiG-25 may have fired a missile from 18 miles away at U. S. fighter aircraft that day. However, U. S. Navy Commander Thompson S. Sanders wrote in Air & Space/Smithsonian that his S-3A Vikings mission was the precursor to this incident. An E-2C Hawkeye alerted Sanders that two Sukhoi Su-22 fighters had taken off from Ghurdabiyah Air Base near the city of Sirte, the two F-14s set up for an intercept as the contacts headed north towards them. Only a few seconds before the crossing, at a distance of 300 m, one of the Libyans fired an AA-2 Atoll at one of the F-14s. Then the two Sukhois split as they flew past the Americans, the turning to the northwest. The Tomcats evaded the missile and were cleared to fire by their rules of engagement. The Tomcats turned hard port and came behind the Libyan jets, the Americans fired AIM-9L Sidewinders, the first kill is credited to Fast Eagle 102, the second to Fast Eagle 107. Two VF-41 Tomcats headed towards the Libyans, which turned around. The Tomcats turned home, but had to turn around again when the Libyans headed towards the U. S. carriers once more, after being tracked by the F-14s radars, the MiGs finally headed home. One more Libyan formation ventured out into the Gulf towards the U. S. forces later that day, Fast Eagle 102 is now on display at the ] Museum in Midland, Texas. The restored F-14 was unveiled in a ceremony on August 26,2016, vis Adm Dave Venlet and his wife Bunny were present to cut the first tape. Fast Eagle 107 was destroyed in an accident on 25 October 1994, top Gun, a 1986 film whose final dogfight scene was inspired by this incident. Description of the incident Air Aces record U. S. Department of State Country Study of Libya, a pictorial study pp.91 Actual Radio conversation recorded by U. S. S

35.
Sukhoi Su-17
–
The Sukhoi Su-17 is a Soviet variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed from the Sukhoi Su-7. It enjoyed a career in Soviet, later Russian, service and was widely exported to Eastern Bloc, Arab air forces, Angola and Peru as the Su-20. It is the first variable-sweep wing of Russian/Soviet origin, the Su-17 set a number of world records. Seeking to improve low-speed and take-off/landing performance of the Su-7B fighter-bomber, the Su-7IG, converted from a production Su-7BM, had fixed inner portions of the wing with movable outer segments which could be swept to 28°, 45°, or 62°. The new wing also had extensive leading-edge slats and trailing-edge flaps, Su-7IG first flew on 2 August 1966 with V. S. Ilyushin at the controls, becoming the first Soviet variable geometry aircraft. Testing revealed that take-off and landing speeds had decreased by 50–60 km/h compared to the conventional Su-7, the production aircraft was named Su-17 and was unofficially dubbed Strizh in service. Aside from the new wing, it differed from its predecessor Su-7 in having a new canopy, the Su-17 first flew on 1 July 1969 with E. K. Kukushev at the controls. A total of 2,867 Su-17 and its variants were built, the Su-17 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1970. The aircraft was used by both the Soviets and the Afghanistan government forces during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, high-altitude airfields and hot dusty climate created special operational challenges. In the summer, the roll of the Su-17 increased 1. 5-fold and landings frequently ended with burst tires. Avionics failures were due to heat and sand contamination. The first-series Su-17s were quickly replaced with more capable Su-17M3 and Su-17M4, although external armor was added around the engine, hydraulics, and fuel systems based on damage analysis, this was still insufficient compared to dedicated close air support Su-25s. The appearance of MANPADS such as the Soviet-made Strela 2, Revised tactics and retrofit of up to 12 flare dispensers which fired automatically during the attack run proved effective, and in 1985 only one Soviet Su-17 was lost to ground fire. Forced to operate 3, 500–4,000 m above ground, Su-17s shifted from using unguided rockets to bombs, including thermobaric weapons, while Su-25s were tasked with precision strikes. Toward the end of the war, the Su-17 force was replaced by the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27s in order to perform operational testing of the new fighter-bomber. The Su-17M3/4 were used during the First Chechen War alongside Sukhoi Su-24s and Sukhoi Su-25s in ground attack, in a move to eliminate single engine strike aircraft from its inventory, the Russian Air Force retired its last Su-17M4 along with its fleet of MiG-23/27s in 1998. The Soviets supplied the communist government of Angola with 12 Su-20Ms in 1982 or 1983, a second shipment from Belarus in 1999 consisted of 2 Su-22UBs and 4 Su-22Ms, and a third one from Slovakia in 1999–2001 consisted of 10 Su-22M-4s and one Su-22UM-3K. These aircraft saw heavy use in the war against UNITA, the pilot managed to eject and flee naked after stripping off his flight suit

36.
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
–
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navys Naval Fighter Experimental program after the collapse of the F-111B project, the F-14 was the first of the American teen-series fighters, which were designed incorporating air combat experience against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War. The F-14 first flew in December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U. S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise, replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U. S. Navys primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor, the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night pod system were added in the 1990s and the Tomcat began performing precision ground-attack missions. In the 1980s F-14s were used as land-based interceptors by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War, where they saw combat against Iraqi warplanes. Iranian F-14s reportedly shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the war, while only 12 to 16 Tomcats were lost, the Tomcat was retired from the U. S. Navys active fleet on 22 September 2006, having been supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The F-14 remains in service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, the U. S. Navy needed a Fleet Air Defense aircraft with a more powerful radar and longer range missiles than the F-4 Phantom II carried to intercept both enemy bombers and missiles. The Navy was directed to participate in the Tactical Fighter Experimental program with the U. S. Air Force by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The Navy strenuously opposed the TFX as it feared compromises necessary for the Air Forces need for an attack aircraft would adversely impact the aircrafts performance as a fighter. Weight and performance issues plagued the U. S. Navy F-111B variant for TFX, the F-111 manufacturer General Dynamics partnered with Grumman on the Navy F-111B. With the F-111B program in distress, Grumman began studying improvements, in 1966, the Navy awarded Grumman a contract to begin studying advanced fighter designs. Grumman narrowed down these designs to its 303 design, the Navy studied the need for VFAX, an additional fighter that was agiler than the F-4 Phantom for air-combat and ground-attack roles. Grumman continued work on its 303 design and offered it to the Navy in 1967, the company continued to refine the design into 1968. In July 1968, the Naval Air Systems Command issued a request for proposals for the Naval Fighter Experimental program, VFX called for a tandem two-seat, twin-engined air-to-air fighter with a maximum speed of Mach 2.2. It would also have a built-in M61 Vulcan cannon and a close air support role. The VFXs air-to-air missiles would be either six AIM-54 Phoenix or a combination of six AIM-7 Sparrow, bids were received from General Dynamics, Grumman, Ling-Temco-Vought, McDonnell Douglas and North American Rockwell, four bids incorporated variable-geometry wings. McDonnell Douglas and Grumman were selected as finalists in December 1968, Grumman was selected for the contract award in January 1969. Upon winning the contract for the F-14, Grumman greatly expanded its Calverton, Long Island, much of the testing, including the first of many compressor stalls and multiple ejections, took place over Long Island Sound

37.
Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)
–
In the Action in the Gulf of Sidra, the United States Navy deployed aircraft carrier groups in the disputed Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea. Libya claimed that the entire Gulf was their territory, at 32°30 N, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi asserted this in 1973 and dubbed it The Line of Death. The United States claimed its rights to conduct operations in international waters. Tensions between the United States and Libya heightened after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 on 14 June 1985, the United States claimed that the Libyan leader was involved in these actions through his support of the alleged perpetrator, Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal. At the same time Libya began the installation of SA-5 surface-to-air missile batteries and radars they received from the Soviet Union in late 1985, to bolster their air defense. As the US Navy had done for years, they continued to challenge Libyas claim to the Gulf of Sidra by crossing the so-called Line of Death. The USS Seattle and the USS Savannah were the fuel, ammunition, previously Gaddafi had made threats that he would shoot down or destroy US aircraft or ships moving over the Line of Death. According to US Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Americas position was quite clear, by crossing the Line of Death, American forces were asserting their right to keep international sea lanes open and conduct naval and air exercises in every part of the globe. During the operations held in January and February, the United States Navy had made 130 intercepts of Libyan fighters in the airspace over the Gulf of Sidra, on 23 March 1986, US aircraft from the three carriers crossed the Line of Death and began operating in the Gulf. On 24 March at 06,00, USS Ticonderoga, accompanied by two destroyers, USS Scott and USS Caron, moved south of the Line, covered by fighter aircraft. A Libyan missile installation near Surt launched two Soviet-made SA-5 Gammon surface-to-air missiles at 07,52, toward F-14A Tomcats of Americas VF-102, the missiles missed their target and fell harmlessly into the sea. Two additional SA-5 missiles were launched but were jammed by an EA-6B Prowler, two hours later, two MiG-23s took off from Benina air base with orders to intercept and shoot down some of the US fighters. Before the Libyan aircraft could get enough, a US E-2C Hawkeye detected them. The Libyans began aggressive head-on maneuvering in an effort to get into firing positions on the two F-14s, this was a sign of hostile intentions. An intense dogfight ensued, though without any missiles being fired, the F-14s dropped to 5,000 feet where they had a distinct advantage over the MiG-23s and positioned themselves between the sun and the Libyans. The F-14s moved into a six oclock position behind the hostile MiGs, locked on to them with radar and acquired AIM-9 Sidewinder tones, the MiGs moved off, seeming to follow a return course to their base. However, one of them reversed course, turning against the F-14s, the F-14 wing leader acquired the MiG, before permission could be granted, the MiG-23 turned away and headed south. Several Libyan patrol boats headed out towards the US battle group, when one of the patrol boats locked on to American aircraft with its fire control radar, USS Richmond K

38.
1986 United States bombing of Libya
–
The 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, comprised air strikes by the United States against Libya on Tuesday,15 April 1986. The attack was carried out by the U. S. Air Force, U. S. Navy and U. S. Marine Corps via air strikes, there were 40 reported Libyan casualties, and one U. S. plane was shot down. One of the Libyan dead was a girl, who was reported to be Gaddafis daughter. However, there were doubts as to whether she was really killed, Libya represented a high priority for President Ronald Reagan shortly after his 1981 inauguration. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was firmly anti-Israel and had supported violent organizations in the Palestinian territories, there were reports that Libya was attempting to become a nuclear power and Gaddafis occupation of Chad, which was rich in uranium, was of major concern to the United States. Gaddafis alignment with the Soviet Union and his ambitions to set up a federation of Arab, the Foreign Minister of Libya also called the massacres heroic acts. After years of skirmishes with Libya over Libyan territorial claims to the Gulf of Sidra. In March 1986, the United States, asserting the 12-nautical-mile limit to territorial waters according to international law, Libya responded with aggressive counter-maneuvers on 24 March that led to the Gulf of Sidra incident. On 5 April 1986, Libyan agents bombed La Belle nightclub in West Berlin, West Germany and the United States obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany who were involved in the attack. More detailed information was retrieved years later when Stasi archives were investigated by the reunited Germany, Libyan agents who had carried out the operation from the Libyan embassy in East Germany were identified and prosecuted by Germany in the 1990s. After several unproductive days of meeting with European and Arab nations, Reagan warned that if necessary, shall do it again. The mission was designated Operation Ghost Rider, the mission was a full rehearsal for a long-range strike against Libya. The mission was completed successfully, with the exception of one aircraft that had all, the lessons learned were passed on to the 48th TFW which was equipped with the newer F models of the F-111. Elements of the then-secret 4450th Tactical Group were put on standby to fly the mission against Libya. Over 30 F-117s had already delivered to Tactical Air Command and were operating from Tonopah Test Range Airport in Nevada. Commanders in the North Africa/Mediterranean theaters knew nothing about the capabilities of the F-117, within an hour of the planned launch of the F-117s, the Secretary of Defense scrubbed the stealth mission, fearing a compromise of the secret aircraft and its development program. The air strike was carried out with conventional U. S. Navy, the F-117 would remain completely unknown to the world for several more months, before being unveiled in 1988 and featured prominently in media coverage of Operation Desert Storm. The French refusal alone added 2,800 km and was imposed despite the fact that France had itself been the target of terrorism directed by the Gaddafi government in Libya, the attack began at 0200 hours, and lasted about twelve minutes, with 60 tons of munitions dropped

39.
United States Navy
–
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress

40.
USS America (CV-66)
–
USS America was one of three Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, she spent most of her career in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and she also served in the Persian Gulf Wars operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. America held the distinction of being the first large aircraft carrier since Operation Crossroads in 1946 to be expended in weapons tests. In 2005, she was scuttled southeast of Cape Hatteras, after four weeks of tests and she was the largest warship ever to be sunk. After fitting out there until 15 March 1965, America remained in Hampton Roads for operations off the Virginia Capes until getting underway on 25 March and she conducted her first catapult launch on 5 April 1965, with Commander Kenneth B. Austin, the executive officer, piloting a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk. Proceeding thence to the Caribbean, the carrier conducted shakedown training, entering the Norfolk shipyard for post-shakedown availability on 10 July, she remained there until 21 August. She next operated locally through late August and then proceeded to the operating areas off the Virginia Capes and to Bermuda, on 25 September, Rear Admiral J. O. Cobb broke his flag as Commander, Carrier Division 2. America sailed for her first Mediterranean deployment late in 1965, New Years Day,1966, found her at Livorno, Italy. Over the ensuing weeks, the ship visited Cannes, Genoa, Toulon, Athens, Istanbul, Beirut, Valletta, Taranto, Palma and she sailed on 1 July for the United States. She arrived at Naval Station Norfolk on 10 July, remaining there for only a time before shifting to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 15 July for availability. America operated locally in the Norfolk area from 29 August –19 September, after time she proceeded to Guantanamo Bay to carry out training. After Hurricane Inez swirled through the region, her sailors spent an estimated 1,700 man-hours in helping the naval base at Guantanamo to recover, on 16 Oct 1965, two Phantom jets collided in midair 20 miles from the America, both pilots ejected safely. An airman was burned in the catwalk and the RA ejected safely, since leaving Norfolk, America had lost five planes. From 28 November –15 December, America took part in LANTFLEX66, gaining experience in the areas of anti-air, antisubmarine, the ship also participated in a mine drop, missile shoots, and provided air support for amphibious operations. She returned to Norfolk on 15 December, remaining there through the end of the year 1966, on 10 January 1967, America departed Norfolk for her second Mediterranean cruise and relieved Independence at Pollensa Bay on 22 January. While crossing the Atlantic, America conducted, carrier qualifications for her SH-3A crews, missile shoots in the mid-Atlantic, day and night air operations, upon nearing Gibraltar, she received a visit from Soviet long-range reconnaissance aircraft, Tu-95 Bears on 18 January. Two F-4B Phantom jets met the Bears as they approached and escorted them past the ship, before anchoring at Athens, on 4 February, America participated with Italian control and reporting centers in an intercept-controller exercise

41.
USS Coral Sea (CV-43)
–
USS Coral Sea, a Midway-class aircraft carrier, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Battle of the Coral Sea. She earned the affectionate nickname Ageless Warrior through her long career, initially classified as an aircraft carrier with hull classification symbol CV-43, the contract to build the ship was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding of Newport News, Virginia on 14 June 1943. She was reclassified as a Large Aircraft Carrier with hull classification symbol CVB-43 on 15 July 1943 and her keel was laid down on 10 July 1944. She was launched on 2 April 1946 sponsored by Mrs. Thomas C, kinkaid and commissioned on 1 October 1947 with Captain A. P. Storrs III in command. Coral Sea was one of the last U. S Navy carriers to be completed with a flight deck. All subsequent U. S Navy carriers have had the angled deck included as part of the ships construction and this was the first carrier launchings of planes of this size and weight. Coral Sea sailed from Norfolk, Virginia on 7 June 1948 for a cruise to the Mediterranean and Caribbean. After an overhaul period, Coral Sea was again operating off the Virginia Capes, on 7 March 1949, a P2V-3C Neptune, piloted by Captain John T. Hayward of VC-5, was launched from the carrier with a 10, 000-lb load of dummy bombs. The aircraft flew across the continent, dropped its load on the West Coast, following training in the Caribbean, Coral Sea sailed 3 May 1949 for her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean with the Sixth Fleet, returning 28 September. On 21 April 1950, the first carrier takeoff of an AJ-1 Savage heavy attack bomber was made from Coral Sea by Captain John T. Hayward of VC-5. At this time, she returned to the Mediterranean for duty with the Sixth Fleet from 9 September 1950 to 1 February 1951. An overhaul and local operations upon her return, as well as training with Air Group 17, as flagship for Commander, Carrier Division 6, she took part in a NATO Exercise, Beehive I. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia 6 October for local and Caribbean operations, while on service with the Sixth Fleet, she visited Yugoslavia in September and carried Marshal Josip Broz Tito on a one-day cruise to observe carrier operations. The ship was reclassified as an Attack Aircraft Carrier with hull classification symbol CVA-43 on 1 October 1952 while still at sea and returned to Norfolk, on 26 April, she sailed for a tour of duty in the Mediterranean. This cruise was highlighted by a visit to Spain, and participation in NATO Exercise Black Wave with Deputy Secretary of Defense R. M. Kyes on board as an observer. Returning to Norfolk, Virginia on 21 October, she carried out tests for the Bureau of Aeronautics and trained members of the Naval Reserve at Mayport, Florida, and Guantanamo Bay. Coral Sea returned to the Mediterranean from 7 July to 20 December 1954, on her next tour of duty in the Mediterranean from 23 March to 29 September 1955, she called at Istanbul and participated in NATO exercises. Sailing from Norfolk, Virginia 23 July 1956 for Mayport, Florida, to embark Carrier Air Group 10 and she participated in NATO exercises and received King Paul of Greece, and his consort, Friederike Luise Thyra of Hanover on board as visitors in October

42.
USS Saratoga (CV-60)
–
USS Saratoga, was the second of four Forrestal-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1950s. Saratoga was the sixth U. S. Navy ship, commissioned in 1956, she spent most of her career in the Mediterranean, but also participated during the Vietnam War, receiving one battle star for her service. One of her last operational duties was to participate in Operation Desert Storm, Saratoga was decommissioned in 1994, and had been stored at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. Multiple unsuccessful attempts were made to preserve her as a museum ship, the Navy is paying ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Texas, one cent to take the ship for dismantling and recycling. On 15 September 2014, ex-Saratoga arrived in Brownsville, Texas and she was ordered as a Large Aircraft Carrier, hull classification symbol CVB-60, and her contract was awarded to the New York Naval Shipyard of Brooklyn, New York on 23 July 1952. She is the second of the four Forrestal-class carriers and she was reclassified as an Attack Aircraft Carrier on 1 October 1952. Her keel was laid down on 16 December 1952 and she was launched on 8 October 1955 sponsored by Mrs. Charles S. Thomas, and commissioned on 14 April 1956 with CAPT Robert Joseph Stroh in command. She was the first carrier in the US Navy to use high-pressure 1,200 psi boilers, for the next several months, Saratoga conducted various engineering, flight, steering, structural, and gunnery tests. On 18 August, she sailed for Guantanamo Bay and her shakedown cruise, on 19 December, she reentered the New York Naval Shipyard and remained there until 28 February 1957. Upon completion of work, she got underway on a refresher training cruise to the Caribbean before entering her home port, Naval Station Mayport in Mayport. On 6 June 1957, President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower, for two days, she and eighteen other ships demonstrated air operations, antisubmarine warfare, guided missile operations, and the Navys latest bombing and strafing techniques. Also in 1957, Saratoga conducted Regulus guided missile tests, the carrier departed Mayport on 3 September 1957 for her maiden transatlantic voyage. Saratoga sailed into the Norwegian Sea and participated in Operation Strikeback and she returned briefly to Mayport before entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs. On 1 February 1958, Saratoga departed Mayport for the Mediterranean, from this date through 31 December 1967 she was to spend a part of each year in the Mediterranean on a total of eight cruises. The remainder of the time, she operated off the coast of Florida or was in port undergoing restricted availability. On the night of 24–25 May 1960, Saratoga collided with the German freighter Bernd Leonhardt off North Carolina, the freighters bridge and superstructure were damaged by the carriers flight-deck. The results of an investigation were never published, but repairs to the freighter, while deployed with the Sixth Fleet on 23 January 1961, a serious fire broke out in Saratogas number two machinery space which took seven lives. The fire, believed caused by a fuel oil line, was brought under control by the crew, and the ship proceeded to Athens, Greece

43.
United States Sixth Fleet
–
The Sixth Fleet is the United States Navys operational fleet and staff of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy, the commander of the Sixth Fleet is Vice Admiral Christopher W. Grady. The Sixth Fleet was established in February 1950 by redesignation of the former Sixth Task Fleet, since that time, it has been continually engaged in world affairs around the Mediterranean, and, on occasion, further afield. It was involved in numerous NATO maritime exercises, the U. S, most recently it launched airstrikes on Libya again during the Libyan Civil War of 2011. The earliest unit was the Mediterranean Squadron, on 1 February 1946, U. S. Naval Forces, Northwest African Waters, was redesignated U. S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean. The force was responsible to U. S. Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean in London, in 1946, President Truman dispatched the battleship Missouri to the Eastern Mediterranean, ostensibly to return the body of Münir Ertegün, former Turkish Ambassador to Washington, back to Istanbul. However, perhaps a much stronger motive was to demonstrate U. S. power in view of Soviet threats to Turkey, the cruiser Dayton relieved the tender Shenandoah as flagship and began operating with the fleet. In June 1946 Fargo, flying the flag of Vice Admiral Bernhard Bieri, Commander, USS Randolph, escorted by USS Fargo and USS Perry, visited Greece in December 1946. The title of Naval Forces Mediterranean was changed to Commander Sixth Task Fleet and then, in 1950, Commander, Sixth Fleets NATO guise was the principal player in Exercise Longstep during November 1952. In 1957, an exercise, Operation Deep Water, took place within the Allied Forces Southern Europe area of responsibility. It was conducted by Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe, commanded by Vice Admiral Charles R. Brown, USN, STRIKEFORSOUTH was effectively the NATO designation for the U. S. Sixth Fleet supported American land forces during Operation Blue Bat in Lebanon in 1958, during the Cold War, the Sixth Fleet had several confrontations with the Soviet Navys 5th Operational Squadron, notably during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. During the Yom Kippur War Elmo Zumwalt describes part of the Sixth Fleet buildup as follows, On 25 October JCS directed TG20.1, John F. Kennedy and escorts, ComSixthFleet as TG60.3 and proceed to join TG60 south of Crete. Additionally, Franklin D. Roosevelt and escorts and TF61/62 were directed to join TG60.1 south of Crete, TG100.1 were ordered to proceed to the Mediterranean and chop to ComSixthFleet. Captain J. Huntly Boyd, the Navys Supervisor of Salvage, was sent to the Canal Zone as Commander and he supervised the actual salvage clearing operation which was carried out by the Murphy Pacific Marine Salvage Company of New York. A total of ten ships blocked the canal,200 civilian specialists worked from May to December 1974 to complete the operation, the canal reopened on 5 June 1975, with the Sixth Fleet flagship Little Rock in attendance. In 1999, changes to CINCUSNAVEURs area of responsibility were announced, the United States Atlantic Command areas that had included the waters off Europe and the west coast of Africa were to be transferred to European Command. European Command already had responsibility for all U. S. land and air military planning in Europe, the change gave EUCOM, and NAVEUR, the responsibility for maritime planning in the same general area of operations

44.
1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing
–
On 5 April 1986, three people were killed and around 230 injured when La Belle discothèque was bombed in West Berlin. The entertainment venue was commonly frequented by United States soldiers, a bomb placed under a table near the disc jockeys booth exploded at 01,45 CET, instantly killing Nermin Hannay, a Turkish woman, and US Army sergeant Kenneth T. Ford. A second US Army sergeant, James E. Goins, died from his injuries two months later, some of the victims were left permanently disabled due to the injuries caused by the explosion. Libya was accused by the US government of sponsoring the bombing, the strikes reportedly killed 15–30 people, and were condemned by the United Nations General Assembly. A2001 trial in the US found that the bombing had been planned by the Libyan secret service, Libya was blamed for the bombing after Telex messages from Tripoli to the countrys embassy in East Berlin congratulating them on a job well done were intercepted. President Ronald Reagan retaliated by ordering airstrikes against the Libyan capital of Tripoli, at least 30 soldiers and 15 civilians were killed. Stasi files led German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis to Musbah Abdulghasem Eter, stasi files listed him as an agent, and Mehlis said he was the Libyan spy agencys main contact at the embassy. Eter and four suspects were arrested in 1996 in Lebanon, Italy, Greece, and Berlin. In 2001, Eter and two Palestinians, Yasser Mohammed Chreidi and Ali Chanaa were convicted in Berlins Landgericht of aiding in murder and they were given sentences of 12 to 14 years in prison. Prosecutor Mehlis proved beyond doubt that the three men had assembled the bomb in the Chanaas flat. The explosive was said to have brought into West Berlin in a Libyan diplomatic bag. Verena Chanaa and her sister, Andrea Häusler, carried it into the La Belle in a travel bag, ms Häusler was acquitted because it could not be proven that she knew a bomb was in the bag. The judge, Peter Marhofer, said it was not clear whether Gaddafi or Libyan intelligence had ordered the attack. Chreidi was eventually extradited from Lebanon to Germany in connection with the bombing and he had been working for the Libyan Peoples Bureau in East Berlin at the time of the bombing. Chreidi was said to have connections with Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, Eter was reported to be the Libyan spy agencys point man at the embassy in East Berlin. On August 17,2003, newspapers reported that Libya had signaled to the German government that it was ready to negotiate compensation for the bombing with lawyers for non-U. S. A year later, on August 10,2004, Libya concluded an agreement to pay a total of $35 million compensation, in October 2008, Libya paid $1

The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta …

Italian battleship Littorio, Admiral Iachino's flagship

Destroyer HMS Kingston suffered heavy damage from Littorios main guns during the battle, and while in drydock at Malta she was successively attacked by German bombers which further damaged her, this time beyond repair.

Gaddafi at an Arab summit in Libya in 1969, shortly after the September Revolution that toppled King Idris I. Gaddafi sits in military uniform in the middle, surrounded by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser (left) and Syrian President Nureddin al-Atassi (right).